Deleted Scenes
by Walkazo
Summary: Scenes removed from my other stories; now they're like a bunch of spoiler-filled one-shots. Although they're no longer part of my larger works, I decided to keep them around in some form.
1. QotK pg 42

**Disclaimer: I don't own the **_**Mario**_** series. I got the compilation-of-deleted-scenes idea from DVDs. It's not a blooper reel, so it's not against the rules.  
**

**Author's Notes: Like most writers, I edit my stories like mad. A few times, I've changed entire scenes around, and sometimes, I have to remove them entirely. Generally, it's because they sucked and I never look back, but a couple times, I had to remove something I _did_ like, for one reason or another, and that's what these "deleted scenes" are. I highly recommend that you read the stories they came from before the scenes themselves, as they contain spoilers and will probably be confusing without any context.**

**

* * *

This first scene was part of **_**The Queen of the Koopas**_** for the first few years that it was published. It started out featuring a random Koopatrol, who I then changed to Spiky Tom to knit things together a bit more, but during a recent re-reading, I decided to take the scene out entirely. I was young and really awkward when it came to writing about romance when I first did **_**QotK**_**, and I've since tried to eliminate the really cringe-worthy bits, and this entire exchange was one of them. I was going overboard in my attempt to be really light hearted about how Bowser and Bowselta were about to sleep together, and now the preceding scene simply ends with Bowser dropping the blueprints, with a more clever "hormone" reference than you see here.**

-o-o-o**-  
**

Spiky Tom the Koopatrol ambled through the corridor. The castle was abuzz with the news of Bowselta Parakay's performance in the peace talk. Most people had had their doubts about her at first, but by now almost everyone had eaten their words. Some were even second-guessing themselves about Bowser: if he had found a girl _that_ amazing, he couldn't be totally clueless.

Suddenly the door to the nearest room opened. Spiky Tom jumped and turned around as Bowser stuck his head out of Bowselta's room. _Speak of the Devil_, thought the Koopatrol.

Bowser caught sight of him. "Hey you!"

"Yes, Your Highness?" responded Tom, trotting up to Bowser.

"Here," said the Koopa Prince, thrusting a package into the guard's hands. "Take this to the shops downstairs. Show it to the Head, and make sure he gives the plans a nice _long_look. Tell him construction on the planes will start tomorrow, and that Bowselta will be supervising. They're her designs, so he can't change anything without her say-so."

"Yes sir."

"Good, and I don't want to see you back up here for at least half an hour. I want you to do a _thorough_ job," ordered Bowser.

"But sire, I'm the only guard in this wing, should I send for a replacement?" asked Tom: being the Chief of Home Defense, he would be held accountable for a hole in the defenses. "I know Johnson's not on duty tonight…"

"No, no, don't worry about it. We're not gonna be attacked by anyone. We just signed a huge deal with Sarasaland, our _only_ militarily active opponent," insisted Bowser.

"Oh, right sir. I see your point," said Spiky Tom apologetically.

"You better. Now scram!" ordered Bowser. The guard bowed low and scuttled off without a backwards glance. Bowser grinned and retreated back into the room. He was about to learn why Bowselta was such a big fan of hormones.


	2. SKW pg 206 to 210

**A/N: Unlike the **_**QotK**_** scene, this was taken out before I published the corresponding chunk of **_**Super Koopa World**_**. The only reason it didn't make the final cut was because I thought that part of **_**SKW**_** was too long already, and unlike the other non-essential scenes in Chapters 17-21, this one wasn't even a lively action scene. Plus, I wanted it to be part of Chapter 19/20 (it was originally one chapter) like the other Koopaling bits, but chronologically, it actually happened during Chapter 17, and having a long rambling aside about what happened "yesterday" right before Iggy's scene didn't end up working at all. However, I didn't want to move this to its proper chronological place, since I'd have to move the description of the airships here, and I really liked how they worked in the Koopa Castle scene. So, all things considered,**** I really had no choice but to remove it from the story itself. Please note that this was never really proofread (so there's typos), and I changed a few plot details (such as when Mario reaches Toad Town) between when I wrote (and removed) this and when I published the actual story.**

-o-o-o**-  
**

While they didn't have destroyers to contend with, Iggy and Lemmy were up against the hundreds of humans who had attempted to invade Sarasaland from the mountainous east, and their progression down the western border of Dark Land was the slowest of all the Koopan fleets. The humans had learned to take advantage of the terrain: they hid in the rocks so the airships couldn't simply obliterate them with Bullet Bills or lasers, and so the Koopas were forced to come down and get them. As with the castle attacks, the magical protection given to the Koopas by their shells was a great asset, and many had supplemental Koopatrol or Terrapin armor as well, but the humans still claimed many lives as they were slowly overcome.

While most of the Sarasalanders were aiding Mario's group spread through the central and western Mushroom Kingdom, the Roketons from the Koopalinga siege and the forces of Easton that had been keeping the humans at bay swelled the Koopa's numbers. Even so, finding their own replacement combatants was still a major priority for the Koopas, and while Iggy oversaw the fighting on the border, Lemmy took two of the four newer airships and went deeper into Dark Land. The western border had been Koopa Troopa territory, although most of the small villages that dotted the region were melting pots of all the basic Koopa species. The human presence in the west was all concentrated on the border, and so the villages were almost all guarded by a mere handful of soldiers; as in the east and north, many of them were eliminated far before Lemmy's forces appeared overhead.

The Koopaling was still struggling with himself over his role in the war: the carnage and death around him made him wonder if he'd ever sleep well again. It was a hundred times worse than Mario's most violent quests – Lemmy wondered if he'd ever get the smell of blood out of his nostrils. Iggy knew Lemmy wasn't handling the fighting as well as he should, and that's why he sent him to get recruits. It was a wise move: freeing the villages often required bloodshed, but seeing the people joyfully greet him and his soldiers as their saviors helped remind Lemmy that the Koopas were doing the right thing in fighting back. And it wasn't like they _weren't_ showing the humans mercy: many of the soldiers threw their weapons to the ground when the airships appeared overhead, and many more had been overwhelmed and thrown in jail by the villagers themselves shortly after Queen Koopa's transmission.

There was one village, however, that gave Lemmy no joy in what he was doing. It was sundown of the first day, and while Mario invaded Toad Town in the west, Lemmy's airship landed in another miscellaneous town. He had just finished delivering the first round of reserves and Iggy was seeing if he could jerry-rig the Bullet Bills into flying around the boulders, so perhaps Lemmy's back-up wouldn't be as direly needed next time. Iggy didn't have much to work with on the front, however, and Lemmy wondered how many of the fresh faces he had just freed would be dead before dawn.

With a sigh, he saw the movement of free Koopas in the twilight: the village had feed itself. Speaking into a microphone connected to the external speakers, he then told the people who he was and why he was there: he knew the speech by heart by that point. The village was built on a long, sloping plateau; the one end was high above the surrounding valley, but the village as so far back, nestled between some higher, tree-covered hills, it was about half the height up. Had he not been fatigued from all the fighting, Lemmy would have said it was a pleasant locale, but as he was now, he didn't even pay attention as his navigator told him the name of the town. Instead, he flew the airship over to the high, flat end of the plateau, turned it back around so that its nose pointed back towards the town, and landed the vessel.

He clicked on the floodlights so that it would be easier to see outside, and then dragged himself off the bridge to go meet with the crowd that hurriedly making their way up the path. By the time he opened the bay doors, the leaders of the village had reached the airship, and with raucous cheering and jeering, they tossed five bodies down before the disgusted Koopaling.

"As soon as we heard Koopa's message, we could not be stopped," said an old Hammer Bro. woman. She was holding a human rifle, as were some of her younger accomplices. "We rose up as one: they weren't expecting it. We took their guns, and we showed them just what we are capable of!" The villagers cheered again: they were obviously proud of themselves – and they had a right to be, but it still turned Lemmy's stomach to look upon the corpses. They were run through with multiple spears, bludgeoned, burned, their eyes were slashed out, and Lemmy had a bad feeling the abuse had not been done posthumously. The other towns had merely killed their captors, or forced them to surrender, but these people had tortured their ex-captors and were now dragging the bodies about as trophies.

"That's great," said Lemmy, forcing a thin smile onto his face. "That fighting spirit is what we like to see: it'll be brutal on the front, but we need the support of anyone who can fight – or who can build: as I said in my announcement, we need blacksmiths too."

"My son's an accomplished blacksmith," said the old woman, as some of the other villagers started filing around her, the other leaders, the bodies and Lemmy to get inside the airship. "But he's in the east: have you freed Burt's Cove yet?"

"No, they're actually no further south over there than we are here, but we'll get there – I mean, _they_'ll get there. If you listen to the radio, we try to report about every town we liberate."

"Oh, good: I've been worried sick about that boy," said the woman.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are," said Lemmy distractedly, watching the people file by. The village was big in size, but the populace was small and almost everyone was in, which was good because speed was of the essence.

"Oh, Gary, here – as much as I'd like to fight, I'm afraid I'm a bit too old: here, you take this," the old woman was handing her gun out to a helmeted male Koopa Troopa who was bringing up the rear of the procession.

"Um, actually, we're not using confiscated human weaponry to fight them," said Lemmy, stepping forward to take the weapon, but the old woman swiftly held it close and stepped backwards, glaring at the Dragon-Koopa.

"Oh, really? That's a shame – they're quite effective."

"Why aren't you using them?" asked another one of the armed Koopas.

"They're evil," said Lemmy. The Koopas didn't look convinced, but aside from the five gun toting Koopas, everyone was inside (Gary had scurried past the Koopaling without a word). "We _are_ melting them into parts, though – so can I have them: my brother needs the material," Lemmy took another step forward towards the group. Bowselta was still in Sarasaland, but she was in contact with Bowser and the Koopalings via Magikoopas, and she had already sent them all some extra advice about dealing with the humans and their technology. She had also sent out a specific order to collect and destroy all human technology: she knew some people would be tempted to keep the weapons and instead that the Koopalings had to stop them. The world needed to be rid of all the human black magic, and if the Koopas tried to use it, it would be in exchange of the magic they were born with: it would blacken their souls as surely as the bullets would blacken their flesh.

The Koopas hesitated. "Come on! I have to go," snapped Lemmy, holding out his hand impatiently to the first Koopa, who then relented. One by one, the other Koopas surrendered their guns, until only the old woman remained. His arms filled with the unnaturally cold metal devices, Lemmy held his hand out to her, but all she did was sneer.

"Surely, your brother doesn't need _every_ last gun."

"Surely _you_ don't need a gun at all: the humans are dead."

"What if they come back?"

"I assure you, that won't happen – now give me that," Lemmy lunged forward but the Hammer Bro. recoiled, and without even thinking, she pointed the gun defensively at the Koopaling.

Lemmy froze, and around him, the watching Koopas all drew a sharp intake of breath as one. The Hammer Bro. was surprised at her own actions, but she didn't back down immediately. Lemmy stared her down; he was pretty sure she wouldn't shoot, but why was she resisting like this? He searched her face for some clue to her behavior, and with a gasp, he found it: three faint scars running almost diagonally across the front of her beak.

His eyes narrowed, and he took another step towards Mrs. Mallet. "I see you didn't learn your lesson last time."

"W- what do you mean?" she stammered, backing away from the Koopaling.

Lemmy held up his hand, his thumb across the palm and the other three fingers spread wide. "What, didn't think Mom would tell us about this place? About what you did?"

"What _I_ did? She was the one who-" but when Mrs. Mallet took one of her hands off the gun to motion to the scars on her face, Lemmy lunged, gripping the barrel of the gun and pushing it skyward as she automatically squeezed on the trigger. Bullets clanged into the bottom of the airship, and Lemmy wrenched the gun from its wielder with barely any effort.

"That better not have hit anything important!" he snarled.

"I- I'm sorry!" gasped Mrs. Mallet, stumbling backwards away from the Koopaling, tripping and landing on the ground, looking up at the Dragon-Koopa towering over her. "I'm sorry for everything! If- if I had known who she was- The heir of Koopa!"

"What should that have mattered?" demanded Lemmy. "She was a little girl and you mobbed her out of town! If you had caught her, what would you have done? Hm? Would she have ended up like them?" He gestured towards the human corpses with the hand gripping the old woman's gun. "I've seen a lot of dead bodies over the past couple hours, but those take the cake." He turned back towards the doors of the airship, where almost the entire population of The Village stood, either inside the vessel or around its entrance. "You don't _need_ these black-magic guns to twist you into monsters," he spat, struggling to get control of his emotions and staring down at the ground. It had been cleared of all the debris of The Factory, but no one had ever bothered building a new one – no wonder it was nearly a ghost town. He wondered what the people left were even doing – maybe still living off the fortune they might have gotten from selling Bowselta's parents' stuff. Bowselta had never once returned to this town; she never brought her children or even Bowser to the place where her parents died.

_So much death…_

Lemmy looked back up at the people in the airship. "I'm sorry for calling you monsters. I just think that killing and taking pleasure in other people's suffering is just so- _so_ wrong. But now's not the time to try and avenge my mother – we're fighting a war now, which means killing and pain is pretty much the name of the game. Once the invaders are gone and our world is safe, maybe then will be the time to put it all behind us and just be nice to each other – go back to _harmless_ mischief." Lemmy smiled sadly, and then looked back down at Mrs. Mallet. "But now's not the time to go settling old scores: you should have just given me the _damn_ gun."

"I'm sorry!"

"Now's not the time for that either," said Lemmy coldly, turning away and walking back towards the doors to the airship. "This little conversation has eaten up enough precious time." As the people of The Village moved aside to let Lemmy pass, he addressed them. "If anyone doesn't feel like coming along anymore, get off now." He then stalked away, without looking back. The townsfolk looked around at each other nervously, but no one budged, except for the four Koopas who had carried guns – they stepped inside the aircraft. Mrs. Mallet stayed on the ground, and watched the doors close on her people as the airship's engines roared to life.


	3. SKW pg 225 to 227

**A/N: Another rejected sequence from **_**Super Koopa World**_**, this time from Chapter 21. Originally, I intended Bowser's Keep to be recaptured without issue off-screen and have him go straight to the Mushroom Kingdom, but then I remembered his haiku in **_**Super Mario: RPG**_** and decided to make the whole thing much more intense. But I went a bit overboard, and upon some reflection, decided this last little sequence was anticlimactic and unnecessary, so out it went.  
**

-o-o-o**-  
**

People rushed back off of Bowser's airship and started digging in the debris, and flying members of the troop flew down the hole near the centre of the mess, which Roy new was the main stairwell. Roy's own airship hovered nearby, close enough for Roy too see what was going on. The wooden airships and the third forcefield-bearing vessel had already moved on and were clearing the nearby villages: as soon as the barrage ended, they weren't needed at the Keep.

At this point, Roy wasn't needed either, but he couldn't leave. He saw that survivors were being brought up from the lower levels, but no Bowser. Yet. His father was alive: he had survived castle collapses before. Why was he even scared? Why did he even need to see it with his own two eyes? Roy shook his head – he was being silly, but still he didn't look away, and when he caught sight of a pile of rubble off to the side suddenly start to shudder, his breath caught in his throat.

-x-

Kammy had never been in a castle collapse before – the closest she could recall was falling through a floor in the Palace of Shadow, and that was nothing compared to the terror of being surrounded by rubble. There was no light, and suffocating dust in the air that made her wheeze. She heard Bowser grunt and try to move, causing the rocks around them to shift, and a couple fell into their hollow. "Careful!" squeaked Kammy.

"Don't worry – I'm a pro at this," said Bowser, stepping forward with one foot and then trying to stand up. The movement brought more rocks tumbling down and while they were nothing to the large Dragon-Koopa, Kammy yelped and blasted at the wall that had let loose the most stones, only to wince as it caused a larger rush of stones. As she blocked them with a barrier, Bowser growled. "Maybe _you_ should be careful! If I wanted to see you get yourself squished I wouldn't have grabbed you back there – show some gratitude, haggy!"

"Sorry, Your Valiantness," said Kammy.

"That's more like it – now stop doing things unless I tell you too: this might be a little more difficult than when I'm only digging myself out… Of course, a little rubble is no match for the Koopa King nomatter what the circumstances!" added Bowser, although deep down he was a little concerned. He had been buried under ruble many a time, but an _entire castle_ was a different story. A couple of the Koopalings had suffered this fate back in the Dinosaur Land debacle, and he recalled Larry being pretty bad off once Bowselta dug him out – and Kammy was much more frail than a young Dragon-Koopa. Bowser just hoped there wasn't that much debris above him; the rocks around them were wedged together, but he could still feel weight bearing down on his back, although his sturdy legs could handle it. Kammy's spell had loosened the rocks above him, and he had taken the opportunity to stand up even straighter, but he worried that if he tried to move again, he'd upset the fine balance of the surrounding stones and have them tumbling down into their hollow. He grit his teeth in frustration: he had been required to do WAY too much thinking these past couple days.

Kammy was staring at the rocks that Bowser was facing apprehensively, using her wand to make a dim light to see by. Like h, she worried the boulders not being supported at his back would come spilling over her at the slightest twitch. "How do you _usually_ get out, Your Experiencedness?"

"I shove the rocks out of the way, but you couldn't: they're too big and heavy for an old bat like you," said Bowser.

"I could use another barrier spell," suggested Kammy.

"…I was _just_ about to tell you to do just that!" said Bowser. He could have smacked himself: sure Kammy was old, but her forcefield was probably half the reason they were still here. Then he remembered her other spell: "Oh yeah, and that blasting spell you did? Do that again, to the wall we're facing, and don't make the barrier go all the way to the ground."

"Oh, so some rocks can spill this way? Are we making a tunnel?"

"Yes, we are: I'm gonna use my firebreath too." Bowser then reached down and scooped Kammy up.

"Hey!"

"You _wanna_ get squashed by the tumbling rocks?" growled Bowser as he clasped Kammy to his torso.

"No, but warn me before doing that – that's no way to treat a lady!"

"_Lady_? Don't make me laugh!" snorted Bowser good-naturedly, before blasting at the rocks in front of him. Kammy sent out a spell and as the rocks gave way, she used a forcefield to keep them from surrounding Bowser, who promptly started forward. The rocks above him came loose as he moved thanks to his spikes and pretty soon they were surrounded by movement. It was all Kammy could do to keep the walls from closing in as Bowser blasted his way forwards and upwards. He scrambled at the tumbling rocks and punched and even used the horns on his head to break through the rubble, barely letting up with the firebreath all the while and hoping he wouldn't run out of steam. Fortunately, they weren't buried too deeply and in no time, they broke free and found themselves beneath the grey skies of Dark Land.

-x-

Roy quietly sighed with relief when he saw his father appear from the rubble in a blast of fire, and while he didn't show it, he was happy to see the Koopa King had Kammy with him. His presence over the ruined Keep was now totally unnecessary, and he instructed his crew to head south across the border to try and make up for lost time. They were, after all, running grievously behind schedule.


	4. Bowser II pg 23 to 24

**A/N: This comes from **_**Bowser **__**II**_**, which is a **_**Mario**_** adaptation of the play **_**Richard **__**III**_**, by William Shakespeare. Most of the play follows the members of the royal court, but there are also two "chorus" scenes, to give the average Joe a voice about what was going on in politics. For this first one, Act ****II****. Scene ****iii****, I simply threw in some characters from some **_**Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door**_**, but after I did a couple more Shakespeare adaptations, I found myself dwelling on that early decision and decided I could do better. So I eventually went back and redid the scene with the generic Hammer Bro. twins that I already used for the second "chorus" scene, and who appear in the main plot as well. I think using the twins makes the entire thing feel much more interconnected, whereas the random insertion of one-off **_**TTYD**_** characters reeked of poor planning. **

-o-o-o-

"Ahoy Ms. Mowz! Tell me, what be the news abroad?" called Admiral Bobbery, the sea-dog bob-omb.

"If I knew I would tell you sweetie," responded the badge-collecting Mowser bandit, "it's all so jumbled up, what have you heard?"

"That King Roy is dead, mere days after inheriting the crown," said Bobbery.

"It was such a shame; he may have been a Dragon-Koopa, and he may have helped his father kill our dear friend Mario and invade out home, but did he really deserve to die?" asked Ms. Mowz, "I don't know if I should be happy or sad about the news."

"You should be, like, both!" called Goombella, the perky Goomba gal.

"Both lassy?" asked Bobbery.

"Yeah, Roy and all the rest of those Dark Land Koopas are totally bad, and should, like, die," explained Goombella, "but now that we need a new king all sorts of problems are going to spring up."

"But honey, I've heard that Iggy Koopa is going to take over; he's a University Professor isn't he? You should be happy about that," said Ms. Mowz.

"I know. He would be an okay king, I guess; but his little brother Bowser Jr. is sure to interfere, and he'd totally lead us into the ground if he were King: all he cares about is himself," stated Goombella.

"They're all scalawags if ye ask me," huffed Bobbery, "did you here about how Roy had his own brother murdered?"

"Oh, I heard it was an accident; the poor King was sick after all," said Ms. Mowz, not wanting to speak ill of the dead.

"I'm willing ta bet that Bowser Jr. had, like, something to do with it," scowled Goombella.

"That may be true, but I'm sure that Iggy fellow will be too clever to let his urchin of a brother tangle his lines," said Bobbery.

"Whatever, I'm gonna go back to Professor Frankley's to watch TV – see what's going on, ya now? Later!" said Goombella, turning and leaving.

"I best be off too – prepare me ship to set sail; we're heading to the Beanbean Kingdom to explore the Gwarhar Lagoon," announced Bobbery.

"Oh, have fun sweetie," said Ms. Mowz, still unsure of what to think of the political situation.

"Farewell m'dear," said Bobbery before turning and leaving the badge thief to her troubled thoughts.


	5. MLB misc

**A/N****: When I started writing my **_**Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story**_** novelization, _Mario & Luigi and... Bowser_, I had Starlow's sage friend be Geno, from **_**Super Mario RPG: The Legend of the Seven Stars**_**, since I like making connections between games. But eventually I worried that bringing in a canon foreigner would be egregious, so I retconned him into Wisdurm and had to rewrite a lot of exposition and conversations accordingly. Which kinda sucked, because I really liked how they turned out, so I decided to preserve them and put them in this archive.**

M&L3 pg 2-3

Starlow certainly never thought she'd be tested. When the Star Sage once known as Geno by his mortal friends asked her to help the Mushroom Kingdom with a nasty plague, she didn't once suspect that something bigger was about to unfold. She just figured she was given the Blorbs case because she had a good repoire with Geno – he liked her spunk, and appreciated how hard a researcher she was. A bookish girl, she read long into the night looking for a way to cure the Blorbs, but she didn't have much luck, and drifted off into an uneasy sleep about swollen Toads, fire, and red, glowing eyes in the dark.

"Yo, you're gonna be late."

Starlow jerked awake at Geno's voice. "Huh? Wha-?"

"The meeting's about the start down in Peach's Castle," said the sage. He was in his puppet form, as always. Starlow remembered when he had just looked like a Star, but after his adventure in the Mushroom World, he came back different. He had found his "true form", he liked to say. Most Sages do, sooner or later. Starlow couldn't imagine looking like anything but what she always looked like – she wouldn't even know what to do as a Star, without her feet or her flashing star-shaped headpiece…

Geno frowned: Starlow was getting lost in her thoughts again. She had a long night, so it was understandable, but she really _did_ need to come back down to earth. Literally. "You're. Going. To. Be. Late." He repeated.

This time, it clicked.

"LATE!" yelped Starlow, shooting into the air. "Oh, what an awful first impression! And I was so looking forward to meeting Peach and Mario and Luigi…"

"Well, Mario doesn't usually show up on time either, so you don't have to worry about him," chuckled Geno as Starlow raced around her study, telepathically whizzing her books back onto the shelves.

"But what if I'm even later than _him_?! … And why didn't you wake me up earlier!?" she snarled.

Geno blinked.

Realizing what she had done, Starlow's face paled. "I- I mean- I didn't mean it, Mr. Geno. I'm so sorry!"

Geno laughed. "Don't worry about it. But other Sages might not take so kindly to being snapped at, so you might wanna watch your temper a little."

Starlow sighed. "I guess. I doubt I'll have to worry about bumping into any Sages while I'm down there, but I suppose I should play nice with the surface-dwellers too."

"Mario and Peach shouldn't give you any trouble anyway. Even if you _are_ late…"

Starlow yelped again. "Late! Oh no! How could I forget I'm in a hurry! Why are you distracting me!? Argh, I'll never get there in time now!"

"Good luck!" Geno laughed as she zoomed past him and headed for the nearest Star Road back down to the surface. But as she disappeared around the corner, his face grew somber. Soon, being late would be the least of her concerns, but it was the only way. Her test had begun, and the fate of the world now rested with her, Mario, Luigi… and Bowser.

M&L3 pg 5

Toadbert looked around. "So uh… What's up? They're not here yet? The bros…"

_Mario doesn't usually show up on time._ Starlow smiled to herself: Geno was right.

But at that moment, Mario and Luigi hurried into view at the end of the hall, stopping at the foot of the conference table.

M&L3 pg 13-14

She couldn't do it.

She needed help.

Help.

Help.

HELP!

"_Knowing your limits is the first step to wisdom."_

_Wh-what? G-geno?_

"_Hello Starlow. Or, should I say, hello yello?"_

_Geno, what's happening?_

"_You already know what's happening."_

_But what do I do? I don't have enough power to help them. They're all going to die…_

"_You mean 'we' are all going to die."_

_I- I suppose…_

"_Putting others before you – you may have 'tude but I told them you had heart too."_

_Wh- what? Oh, nevermind. Geno, if you're here too, can you-_

"_Oh no, I'm not there. I'm just watching."_

_So… you can't help?_

"_Not yet. I'll help you soon, but you need to help yourself first."_

_But I don't have enough power. And I thought curing the Blorbs was beyond a Star Sprite… How can I possibly pull everyone out?_

"_You can't."_

_But then what do I do?_

"_You don't NEED to get them out. There's only one soul you need to stabilize for now, and the rest will lie dormant."_

…_Bowser?_

"_Got it in one."_

_But I don't want to help BOWSER! He caused this. He SHOULD suffer!_

"_Now that's not very nice. Besides, you know he couldn't have done this to himself."_

_Then what happened?_

"_You'll find out soon enough."_

_Why won't you tell me what's happening? Do you want us all to die?! Mario is your friend, and so's Peach, and… I thought I was your friend too…_

"_You are. And so is Bowser. I'm not telling you because I can't. You need to figure this out on your own. But don't worry, we'll help you. You just need to-"_

_Yeah, yeah, I remember: help myself first. But you're not listening to me, Geno! I don't have enough power to stabilize Bowser._

"_That's true, you don't. You need help."_

_THEN HELP ME!_

"_You don't need MY help…"_

M&L3 pg 16

"_Kind of a weird choice."_ Geno was back.

_It wasn't me,_ explained Starlow._ I wanted to have some sort of way to explain stuff to Mario, but Bowser's energy just manifested itself like that._

"_Guess you'll have to go and do the explaining in person."_

_But I can't – I need to stay focused on maintaining the illusion, and I haven't resolved Luigi yet._

"_You're close."_

_Not close enough._

"_You can do it."_

_Ugh, FIIINE, I'll give it a try._

"_That's my girl."_

M&L3 pg 17

As Mario battled with the Goombule blob, Starlow tried calling Geno.

"_You rang?"_

_What's going on? The Emoglobins were bad enough, but now attacking blobby things?_

"_Did you expect Bowser's energy to just roll over while you hijacked it?"_

_Well, I…_

"_You're all parasites – ENERGY parasites. The worst kind. Just as a body tries to fight off invading pathogens, so too will Bowser's energy fight you lot."_

_Guess we'll just have to fight 'em off._

"_At least fighting is Mario's second nature. After jumping, of course."_

_Of course. …But, if these are Bowser's energy, does fighting them off hurt him, or…_

"_Do my ears deceive me? Starlow's concerned for Bowser?"_

_I'm concerned for my host – like a good little parasite. If he dies, we die, remember?_

"_Cool down, I'm only teasing. Anyway, don't worry about it: the amount of energy lost by these little encounters is a pittance. Besides, it's all Bowser soup down there, really. You may have separated Mario's consciousness, but he and Bowser are still connected. Lots of feedback and mixing and all that. Don't sweat it."_

_If you say so…_

M&L3 pg 20

_Gennnooo, talk to me. I have no idea what to do. The energy's there but the mind's not able. I can't get a lock on anyone else's consciousnesses. I'm beat._

"_Beat, but not defeated."_

_About time you picked up!_

"_Too many hints would be cheating."_

_Don't give me that riddle talk! I'm SO not in the mood._

Geno sighed, but he understood Starlow's frustration. Granted, _he_ didn't need to ask his mentor for quite so many pointers during his test all those decades ago, but he supposed his task hadn't been _quite_ as abstract. Even putting the Star Road had been more straightforward – had the Star World itself not been in peril, it would've made for a good Star Sprite trial, now that Geno thought about it. But this was no time to reminisce, and he took pity on Starlow.

"_There's one more consciousness available to you – one you don't need to pull from the ether."_

_You mean BOWSER?! I'm not waking HIM up, if that's what you mean! …Geno? Geno! COME BACK! And give me some GOOD advice this time! Grrrrr!_

M&L3 pg 38

_A 'Sahje days et-wall'? Sahje… Sage? You mean Sage? You used to be a Star Sage?!_

"_Oui oui! But I have not forgotten how to handle zee power. And a good thing too, because late zis morning a fellow named Geno contacted me. "_

_Geno?_

"_Oui. I have never met him in person until today, but he is very nice. He even spoke la belle langue! He said, 'Pardonnez-moi, Monsieur Broque. Est-ce que vous aidez mon ami? Il est une grande tortue avec un grand problème. À cause d'une condition d'énergie, il a besoin d'aide. Votre aide. Je sais que vous n'êtes plus un sage, mais c'est très important que mon ami ne meure pas. Il y a une profétie. Maintenant, une force dangereuse se réveille…' But I say too much."_

Starlow's head was spinning. She didn't know Geno spoke French – she sure didn't.

M&L3 pg 47

"Uh… Ummmm…" Starlow hadn't expected Bowser to care enough about her to ask for her name and was taken aback. "My name is… Uh…" She couldn't tell him the truth – she couldn't remember if someone had called her by name in front of hi, and she didn't want to risk it. She didn't really care for the evil Koopa King knowing her personally either. In fact, she figured it'd be easier just telling him to mind his own beeswax, but in spite of herself, she suddenly blurted out the nickname Geno sometimes called her. "…CHIPPY!"

"Chippy? Weird name…"

"Yeah, a little weird…" said Starlow. She was a chip off the old block, the Star in the form of a wooden puppet used to say to her. But she didn't know why she told Bowser that. She blamed the Scutlet. The energy ordeal had scrambled her senses. "Look, it doesn't matter."

M&L3 pg 69-70

"_So what do you think?"_

"_She was very fortunate that Wisdurm was there."_

"_She could have figured it out on her own."_

"_But before the river of carrot juice ran dry?"_

"_Sure, why not?"_

"_Why indeed… she is unenlightened."_

"_But she's getting better, Chakron. At least she TRIED."_

"_Yes. She is indeed learning to stand on her own… I suppose…"_

"_She will make a fine sage, I'm sure of it."_

"_And in the meantime, Wisdurm will remain in Bowser's energy. I fear that we will need a conduit to lend him our powers again before this is over."_

"_Of course. You don't think I know what's at stake?"_

"_You are a sage, but you are still young, Geno. You were not there. The ominous waves that crash upon you now are nothing like the whirlpool of evil that lies below."_

"_They can handle it."_

"_They HAVE to handle it…"_


	6. MLB pg 117-118

**A/N****: I wrote this part before I remembered that Bowser already knew about Fawful taking over Peach's Castle and acquiring the Dark Star by the time he met up with Mario and Luigi in the clinic (immediately following this scene), so I had to rewrite it almost entirely. Which saddened me, because I liked this version – and that's why I decided to preserve it here. Hope you like it too!**

-o-o-o-

"Should we head for Mushroom Castle?" inquired the leader of the Shy Guy corps.

"Why would we go there? Fawful's hideout is at _my_ castle," frowned Bowser.

"So should we move out, then?" ventured the Goomba leader.

Bowser crossed his arms and scowled. "I spent _all day_ yesterday walking to the castle, I don't want to do it again. Seeing as the stupid mole hole is still clogged up, we can't take Project K over, but maybe there's a Warp Pipe or something..."

"What about your Clown Car?" asked the Shy Guy.

Bowser went rigid.

"Sire?"

"My Clown Car!" Bowser's eyes flashed open. "I'll take the Clown Car! Great idea! Glad I thought of it!"

"That's why you're the king, Your Smartness!" grinned the Shy Guy, knowing better than to try to argue for his deserved credit. "So where _is_ the car?"

"…Mushroom Castle," admitted Bowser after a pause. "Guess we'll had over there after all." But Bowser only took a couple steps towards the nearest flight of steps before he stopped dead in his tracks again. "Wait a minute. My Car's well and good for getting _me_ there, but what about you lot?"

"Oh well, I suppose if you're flying over, we'll just stay here, and uh-"

"IDIOTS!" roared Bowser, silencing the Shy Guy. "That's why you suggested the Clown Car, wasn't it? You cowards! You want me to go back there by myself and do all the dirty work, _again_! Useless minions!"

"I thought it was _your_ idea to-"

"RRRAAGGHHH!" The cheeky Goomba who had spoken disappeared in a ball of flame, his companions hastily leaping out of harm's way. "USELESS! MINIONS!" repeated Bowser, stomping his feet. "Useless cowards, all of you! I don't know why I even bother bringing you- No, wait, I DO know! If I didn't bring you along, you'd just sit around and get a free ride off all my hard work. Well not today, minions. No siree: you are gonna _work_ for your titles, just like Chippy! We're gonna find a Warp Pipe leading all the way to the foothills, and you lot are gonna help me take back the castle and save Princess Peach, ya hear me?"

"YES KING BOWSER!"cried the frightened Koopa Troop members as they stared up at Bowser, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Good," he grunted. "Now, to find a Warp Pipe…" Bowser started off again, the Goombs and Shy Guys in tow. Word had spread hat there were Koopas in the mall, and the only Toads they met as they made their eastwards and up the hill were immobile Blorbed Toads. The Goombas eyed them warily, concerned that the disease could possibly be transmissible between the two sentient mushroom species.

Noticing the way his troops shied away from the swollen Toads, Bowser frowned. Part of the reason he had tried to get in on the Blorbs meeting the day before was because Kamek and the other eggheads monitoring the situation across the border wondered if the disease could jump to Goombas. But Peach, Mario, Toadsworth and that Star thing didn't even give him a chance to point out how unreasonable they were being in excluding him. Hell, if they hadn't kicked him out, he wouldn't have run into Fawful, and he'd still have his castle and Peach would still be safe.

Bowser was still fuming about the whole thing even as his little group reached the top of the hill and the third floor of stores, coming across another Warp Pipe at the top of the stairs. Bowser sullenly gestured at the nearest Goomba to check it out, but the little creature didn't even have to enter the pipe to see that it was broken.

"Psh, stupid Toads, too lazy to even remove broken down Warp Pipes. What kind of shoddy mall is this?" snorted Bowser. "It's not even a mall, really. Just a bunch of stores on a hill. Unconnected Stores, and broken Pipes, and sick Toads, and- and a medical center." Bowser scowled up at the building next to the defunct Warp Pipe. "Who puts a clinic in the middle of a poser mall anyway? Toad Town has the stupidest floor plan ever. Or whatever it's called." Bowser turned to go, but once again stopped cold, turning around and looking up at the sign at the front of the clinic.

"Um, is something wrong, Your Angryness?" asked one of the Goombas timidly.

"Well, I was just thinking, we're here already – might as well see if the doctors will tell us anything about the Blorbs. I know you lot wanna know if you'll get sick too."

"Oh, that's very, er, considerate of you," said the Goomba in surprise.

Bowser snorted. "I don't want my minions getting sick is all. Those idiots at the castle wouldn't tell me anything yesterday, but there's no Star brats or Mario Bros. here to mess with me this time. I'll get us the scoop – just you watch me."

"Yeah! That's our King Bowser!" crowed the minions as their leader stomped over to the door. They knew an opportunity to suck-up when they saw one.

"Go get 'em!"

"Make 'em sing!"

"Bowser!"

"Bowser!"

"BOWSER!"


	7. MLB pg 271

**A/N****: This one's another excerpt from my **_**M&L:BIS**_** adaptation. Usually I try to place chapter breaks at natural transition points or dramatic high points, but after a bit of a lull, two such points happened back-to-back: Midbus's death and the Dark Star's awakening. I wanted desperately to give both points their dramatic due, but sadly, a tiny chapter of 430 words was a bit too hard to justify, and besides that, I started to wonder if I was laying it on a bit thick with Starlow's part. So I retooled it and added it to the end of what was Chapter 76 at the time - but which was later split back into two chapters (now with the break coming before the boss fight rather than after it) as there was jut WAY too much going on for one chapter. Anyway, here is the original standalone Chapter 77. (As for the changes made to the beginning of 77 from the original merged form, it was literally five words that got switched around, so not worth showing at all.)  
**

-o-o-o-

"Muh muh muh… Muh muh… Muh…" Midbus chucked despite it all, his breaths becoming increasingly ragged as his internal energy fields came undone. Part of him couldn't believe it was happening – that he was dying the death that should have claimed Bowser hours ago – days ago. He supposed it was maybe for the best that it ended this way: his master didn't need a weakling like him holding him back. "Though I fall here… None beat Lord Fawful…" he panted, cracking open an eye ever so slightly and with grim satisfaction, made note of the flashing screen of the Dark Star device. He had lost the fight, but at least he hadn't failed his master: his life had bought Fawful the time he needed, and Midbus gave Bowser one last murderous smile, serene in his knowledge that for all his might, the Koopa King would be joining him soon. "Now he will FINISH YOU!" he snarled with the last of his strength, feeling the unstable power break free of all control and explode outward from his very core, ripping his spirit to shreds and turning every bone, every hair, every fibre of flesh and every drop of blood in his body to solid, lifeless ice.

Chapter 77: End and Beginning

The sickening cracking sound of freezing ice was followed by a moment of horrified silence as Bowser and Fawful stared at the figure between them. Even Starlow was disturbed by the fate that Midbus had just met with: through Bowser's eyes she could see that his body had been replaced by a ball of ice, leaving only his head free, his eyes bugged out and lifeless and a constant stream of frigid air seeping out his nostrils. But the air wasn't coming from his lungs: it was his ether, the breath of life itself, now turned to cold death and forcing its way out of the icy prison that used to be a powerful being of flesh and blood. Starlow shuddered: how many times had she barely saved Bowser from a demise like that – not one of ice, but of fire and dust, but still, death was death. And it was scary.

Bowser, on the other hand, snapped out of his shock relatively quickly. "GWAHAHA! You figure out who's tougher yet, Mr. Ice Cube?" he jeered, unmoved by Midbus's untimely demise.

Across from him, Fawful simply stood in stony silence. He knew the ice magic was dangerous – he had hoped it wouldn't come to using it, but he thought he and Midbus had practiced enough in Joke's End to make it work. But now another plan had failed: he still had backups, but he didn't have another minion. Not like Midbus. Turncoat Koopa Troop members and robots couldn't replace Midbus. As he stared at the ball of ice that used to be his loyal friend and toady, he found himself struggling to keep his composure.

Suddenly the smashing of glass drew Bowser, Fawful and Starlow's attention away from Midbus, with the Dragon-Koopa and Bean turning just as the blue sphere containing Peach shattered and letting her fall down onto the platform in a heap. Bowser's eyes widened, but then another crash echoed through the room as the restrains around the Dark Star were also sent flying. For a frozen instant, Starlow prayed that the machine had failed – that perhaps some flame of Bowser's had managed to get past Midbus, or that Fawful had miscalculated.

But as rays of darkness started to shoot out of the Dark Star, she knew her hopes were in vain.

As an unearthly roar filled the air, she knew her worst fears were coming true.

As the room itself seemed to darken, she knew she was too late.

As a pair of red eyes shone through the gloom, she knew.

The Dark Star had awakened.


End file.
